Venus is the second planet after the Sun and the sixth largest. Scientists sometimes call it the morning or evening star. Its rotation is extremely slow, meaning its year is actually shorter than its day; a day on Venus is equivalent to approximately two hundred and forty-three Earth days, while a year is equivalent to two hundred and twenty-five Earth days (Exploration). The distance from the sun is 67,232,400 miles (Distance), being close to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, the average temperature is 864 degrees Fahrenheit but it can reach over 900 degrees, which is hot enough to melt lead (Coffey). The size of Venus is very similar to that of Earth, just a little smaller (Coffey…Size). The color of Venus is actually bright white, most of the yellowish orange images you see are false color images used to show surface features (Cain). “Scientists say that no one has really discovered Venus since it is visible to the naked eye. to the naked eye", because it is the second brightest object in the sky (Discovery). There is therefore no precise date for its discovery. In 1610, Galileo was the first to observe Venus, but the ancients probably knew it was there because it is the first "star" we see before sunset and the last "star" we see. sees before sunrise (Galileo). It is one of the most explored planets after Earth. Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. It is the only planet named after a woman (Choi). Scientists believe that Venus formed in the same way and around the same time as Earth and might have looked like Earth, but because it is so close to the sun, the water would have evaporated (Oxlade, 15 ). The atmosphere of Venus is composed of carbon dioxide and thick t...... middle of paper ...... Geology, environment and the universe. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill Co., Inc., 2013. Solar System Exploration-Planets. March 6, 2014. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov> March 25, 2014. The planets and their moons. 2013. . March 25, 2014Venus's sister planet Earth. March 14, 2014. space/solar-system/venus-article/>. March 25, 2014Facts about Venus. 2014. . March 26, 2014 Oxlade, Chris. Mercury, Mars and the other inner planets. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2008. Size of Venus. December 19, 2008.March 27, 2014.How big is Venus?. November 16, 2012. March 27, 2014The color of Venus. May 16, 2008 March 27 2014.